


Third Time's a Charm

by Fiselis



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien!Keith, Galra Keith (Voltron), M/M, Nonbinary Pidge | Katie Holt, cause tbh i have only a rough idea of where this is going, im going to update tags as this progresses, klance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-28
Updated: 2016-08-02
Packaged: 2018-07-27 05:53:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7606228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fiselis/pseuds/Fiselis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was quieter now. Once the red paladin and his lion had disappeared, the rest of the crew had felt a sudden dark cloud hang over their heads. How could they manage to defeat the entire Galran Empire without being able to form Voltron? </p><p>While the rest of the crew continues to train and prepare for the worst, Lance can't shake his own demons away. It was hard enough keeping up with basic tasks, but with the loss of a close friend constantly teasing the back of his mind anything was a challenge. After all, it was all his fault. All his fault for screwing everything up, as usual.</p><p>Right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so this is my first voltron fic and........im honestly sorry if the characters arent quite right im still getting the hang of it but anyyywayy......

It had been three months since it happened.

Three months since the Galran attack, three months since Keith was taken away, three months since Lance had confessed to Keith.

Three months, and Lance had never felt more alone.

~

“Hunk, you really need to be more serious about this,” Shiro slicked his hair back, wiping away the beads of sweat that dotted his forehead. “The five of us—” He stopped, his eyes widening. He scowled and corrected himself. “The _four_  of us need to be able to rely on each other. You three should know that.”

Hunk was quiet for a second. “Sorry, man. I think we’re all just a bit, y’know. Distracted.”

Pidge appeared behind him, nodding solemnly. “Ever since Keith was taken, it’s been quiet. And not the kind of quiet we’re used to when he’s around.”

Shiro sighed. His shoulders sagged, and he looked tired. “You think I don’t know that? I’ve known Keith a lot longer than the rest of you. Why do you think I’m making you work this hard?” He clenched his fists, gritting his teeth. “I’ve been training you so hard so that we’d be able to rescue Keith someday. And what do you do? You mope around and slack off like he never even existed!”

“Shiro.” Lance spoke up for the first time during their training practice. The usually enthusiastic and loud teen was even more depressed about the loss than the rest, or at least, it showed the most. “I think we just need time.”

Shiro took a deep breath in and nodded. “I’m sorry. You’re probably right. We’re done for today.” Without another word, he left the training deck. Hunk shuffled out behind him, leaving Pidge and Lance alone.

“Are you doing okay?” Pidge adjusted their glasses, glancing up at the blue paladin.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Lance didn’t meet their eyes.

“Liar.”

“I’m not lying!” 

Pidge crossed their arms. “You’re really bad at lying, Lance. Always have been.”

Lance sighed. “I just feel awful about this. About Keith.”

“We all do,” Pidge’s voice softened as they reached out to place a hand on his shoulder. “And we’ll get him back, trust me.”

“No, no it’s not that,” he paused, searching for the right words. “I just feel like it’s my fault. I know it’s stupid, but I was there with him. I saw him get taken. I could’ve helped him. But I _didn’t_.”

“Lance, you’re being too hard on yourself. If I were in a situation like that,” Pidge paused, adjusting their glasses. “I’d probably do the same.”

“Thanks, Pidge,” Lance ruffled the green paladin’s hair.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m gonna head back to my room. See you at dinner?”

Lance nodded. “Sure thing.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> ((italics represent flashbacks..sorta))

_“Lance. Lance!” Keith waved a hand over his eyes. “Earth to Lance. Get to your lion, we gotta head out now.”_  
  
Lance nodded, snapping out of his daze. “Right, got it.” The two retreated into their lions, abandoning the castle-ship and following the others to the Galran ship.

_“Last one to the ship has to eat Coran’s goop for the next week!” Lance cried over the comm, the red lion right at his heels._

_“Like hell I’d agree to that!” Keith muttered. “But tell me how it tastes!” With that, he rushed off leaving Lance in his dust._

_“Did you really challenge the red lion, aka the fastest lion, to a race?” Pidge’s voice was incredulous._

_“Pidge, leave me alone. I’ll get back at him somehow.” Lance lowered his lion until it landed next to the red lion, which sat on the hull of the ship. It bent down, opening its maw allowing Keith to exit. Lance copied him, and followed the red paladin until they had entered the ship._

_“Lance, Keith, do you copy?” Shiro’s voice was quiet, but firm. “There’s a group of prisoners down the hall and to the left, fourth cell. You got it?”_

_“Yes, see you in a few,” Keith turned off his comm, leaving he and Lance alone on the ship._

_They followed Shiro’s directions, freeing the prisoners and handing them off to Hunk. As soon as the yellow lion took off, the ship shuddered. The eerie purple lights flickered, casting shadows down the hallway. Keith released his weapon, the blue glow of the sword providing a comforting light for the two boys._

_“Lance! Look out!” Lance ducked as Keith swung his arm up, coming into contact with a Galran soldier. It fell back, but two more were quick to replace it. Lance looked down the hall, which was now swarming with soldiers._

_“Lance, you need to go! Run, I’ll cover you!” Keith’s sword came into contact with another Galran grunt, sparks flying out across the floor._

_“Go!”_

~

It was quiet when Lance woke up, considering he was all alone in empty space. It was hard to wrap his mind around; just a few months ago he would’ve been begging for this opportunity. Now, all he wanted to do was go home.

But he couldn’t.

He stretched out and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Turning his gaze down to the control, he quickly began scanning for any Galran life. After looking in every possible direction, Lance had found nothing. Though he knew he was alone, he couldn’t help the feeling that there was someone, or some _thing_ watching him. He turned his lion around, hoping that maybe his scanners were wrong, that maybe he had a chance of finding Keith.

Nothing.

“Hey,” Pidge’s voice was loud over the comm system, causing Lance to yelp and jump out of his seat.

“Pidge! How are you talking to me? What’s happening?”

The green lion materialized in front of him, and Pidge smirked. “Remember that cloaking device?”

Lance groaned. He had hoped he was alone for this, so no one would have to stop him. _He_ wanted to be the one to find Keith, but this time it wasn’t about proving himself capable. It was something…more. “How’d you know where I was heading, anyway?”

“You aren’t really good at sneaking around the castle,” Pidge brushed their bangs out of their eyes, and continued to speak. “I watched you leave the Hangar, and I ended up following you. After all you’d be hopeless by yourself.”

There it was again.

Lance crossed his arms and pouted. “So what’re you going to do? Bring me back?” He dreaded the idea of facing the rest of the gang, _especially_ Shiro. Though he was a nice guy, he could be absolutely _terrifying_ when he got mad.

“Um, no, actually. I’m going to help you,” Pidge pushed their glasses up, the reflection hiding their eyes. “I thought about what you said. You’re right, there’s no point waiting around for something to happen that might not _even_ happen.”

Lance was shocked. “Wow, Pidge, that’s really—”

“Shut it, Lance. We have some Galrans to be searching for. Right?”

Lance nodded, getting ready to take off to some other part of the galaxy.

“Right.”

~

Lance was grateful that Pidge had shown up. Not only did they provide a bit of comfort as they travelled through the void, but they also had programmed the green lion with an extremely powerful scanner. Within a few Earth hours, the two had managed to track down a Galran ship. It was just another cargo ship, but Pidge quickly took action and landed.

“I can see if I can find any information about the ship we were on when we lost Keith. I’ll need you to cause a sort of distraction while I hack into the computer systems though.”

Lance nodded. Being a distraction was something he excelled at, that’s for sure. The two entered the ship after landing their lions in a hidden location, Pidge leading the way.

“How do you know where you’re going, anyway?” Lance whispered to the green paladin, who glanced around a corner.

“Just be quiet and trust me.”

Lance closed his mouth, following the other close behind. He released his bayard out of caution, ready to blast any Galrans to bits if they came into contact with them.

Pidge stopped abruptly, investigating a control panel that led to what seemed to be a doorway. They groaned, sounding quite defeated. “We can’t get in without some sort of Galran key, like tech or something. If only Shiro were here—”

“Wait, that looks familiar,” Lance put his hand on it, waiting for something to happen. “That’s weird, Keith did the same thing one time and it worked.”

Pidge glanced up at him with furrowed brows. “Keith did?”

Lance nodded. “Yeah, but we’re gonna have to find a different way in,” he trailed off, looking down at the panel. “Hey, Pidge, get behind me for a sec.”

“Lance, what’re you going to—LANCE!” Pidge leapt out of the way a fraction of a tick before he fired his blaster. “Lance, what the _hell_?!” Lance shrugged, but walked towards the door. The control panel was completely busted, but that meant that so was the locking mechanism. He slipped his fingers into the groove between the two doors and pried them apart.

“I have to admit,” Pidge squeezed through the doors, joining Lance’s side. “I’m pretty impressed.”

“What can I say? I have my moments,” Lance nodded toward the large computer screen at the end of the room. “Now you can show me what _you_ can do.”

Pidge sat down at the computer, which immediately roared to life. They started tapping at the buttons, watching numbers and words flash across the screen. “Ugh, it’s all in some language I can’t understand! I can try to download everything onto a disc, and we can bring it back and have Allura and Coran translate it.” They kept working, their tongue sticking out while they were concentrating.

While they worked, Lance kept an eye on the door. He couldn’t help but feel that their breaking in was a bit _too_ easy. They hadn’t encountered any soldiers, and no one had come running at the sound of Lance’s blaster. They had been too cocky coming in, and now, Lance feared it would be harder from then on out.

“How’s it looking, Pidge?”

“Well, downloading it is taking long since there’s a lot of information. So far we’re at about fifteen percent.”

“I’m gonna go take a look around. I can’t help but feel like something’s wrong here.” Lance started towards the door, but froze at the sound of a blaster preparing to shoot.

“I don’t think so, paladin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the dialogue heavy chapters,.., i promise it'll lighten up soon
> 
> you can find me at p03-dameron.tumblr.com for a mess™ of stuff
> 
> anyway have a good day/night!
> 
> x


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry its been awhile! I've been struggling with real life stuff at the moment. ive been under alot of stress with comic con coming up and i have to finish like. two full cosplays in like a week and i dont have any help. plus i wrote this chapter and? i deleted it so that was a push back.
> 
> also im working on another oneshot kind of story (klance, definitely) with galra!keith again but its going to be smut. sooooo if youre into that then hey! check it out, it should be up in a day or two.
> 
> also i realized that italics are hard to read kind of? if anyone has any problems with the formatting, i can try to figure something else out, but for now this is how im going to keep it set up.
> 
> also if you think anything needs to be tagged let me know! i'm more than happy to tag certain triggers or anything. enjoy! x

_“Do you really not remember your family?”_

_Keith stared at him, the incredulous stare in his eyes betraying his normally nonchalant expression. It wasn’t often that people inquired about his personal life. He turned away, choosing to stare at a spot on the floor as he pulled his knees to his chest. He didn’t say a word._

_“You miss them though,” Lance said softly, laying on his back to watch the stars pass by through the glass. “Don’t you?”_

_Keith shrugged, his face hidden. “You can’t miss what you never had, I guess.”_

_Lance furrowed his brows. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like without his family. Even now he still thought about them. It was almost like he was back home. He could practically feel the grass under his back, the cool breeze that the night brought, and the eerie white glow of the moon overhead._

_"I'm sorry, I was a jerk. I shouldn't have said those things to you." Lance sat up, looking over at Keith. The red paladin glanced up at him but didn't say anything. Lance pursed his lips. "You can call me an asshole, or punch me or whatever. I deserve it."_

_Keith hesitated, then looked away. "Can I....can I hold your hand?"_

_Lance glanced at the red paladin's hand. He bit his lip, trying to hold back a remark and took the gloved hand in his own. Keith's fingers were cold compared to his own, but he didn't mind._

_Though he'd never admit it to anyone, he enjoyed Keith’s touch._

_~_

The two paladins were tossed into a cell, wrists and mouths tied. Lance surveyed the area, finding that the room was quite literally a box. No chance of escaping.

Pidge tried to say something, but the cloth tied around their mouth prevented it. They turned over, gesturing to the ties on their wrist. Lance got the idea. They sat back to back, Lance trying to untie the knot on Pidge’s wrists. Once they were freed, they ripped the cloth from their mouth and began to dash around the room.

“How are we going to get out of here? I don’t see any windows or anything. Lance, we’re trapped in here! No one’s going to know where we went—” They were interrupted by a muffled yell coming from Lance. “Oh! Sorry, I forgot.” They quickly got to work and soon Lance was also freed.

The two investigated the room further, finding nothing but metal walls and a few pipes. Lance continued to search while Pidge continued to look at the pipes.

“Hey, Lance, did the guards take your weapon too?”

Lance nodded, sitting down next to them. “Why? Do you have some sort of plan?” With the smirk on the green paladin’s face, he had a bad feeling that there was something going on in their brain.

 

~  
“This is not going to work.”

“This is definitely going to work, now be quiet.”

With a grunt of effort, Pidge slammed the heel of their foot into one of the pipes. They repeated the movement until finally the bolts that held it into place were loosened. Steam poured out of the pipe with a hiss, filling the room rapidly.

“Is it poisonous?” Lance backed away from it, to be safe.

“It shouldn’t be, but you can put your helmet just in case.” Pidge answered, putting their own helmet on. “Alright, that should’ve set off some alarm, so get ready.” Lance nodded, moving into his position to the right of the door.

They waited until the door opened, two Galra guards stepping in. Just as they noticed the presence of the two paladins, they had pounced on them, grabbing their blasters and pointing them at their original owners.

“Don’t move, or else!” Pidge shouted, preparing to fire the blaster.

“Or else _what,_ paladin? You’ll shoot us?” One of the soldiers sneered. “That goes against your ways, doesn’t it? Unnecessary violence?”

Pidge wavered for a second. “Pidge, focus!” Lance nudged the green paladin with his right foot, not tearing his gaze away from the soldiers.

“You’re looking for something, aren’t you? Perhaps your missing friend?” Lance’s eyes widened, and the soldier scoffed. “You humans get so attached.”

“Tell us where Keith is!”

“Oh, I’m forbidden to tell. You might get information on the ship however, if you don’t get trapped again. All I am going to tell you is that your actions are futile. Your friend wants nothing to do with you now.”

Without a moment of hesitation, Lance fired the blaster directly at the soldiers, who were still instantly. He bent down, picking up their missing bayards from the bodies. He grabbed Pidge’s wrist, who stared at him in horror. “C’mon, let’s get back to that computer.”

“Lance! Do you realize what you just did?” Pidge jogged to follow him, but still kept their distance.

Lance shrugged. He didn’t care. Of course Keith would want to come back, right? After all, they were friends, they were a _team._ He couldn’t imagine Keith staying on the side of the Galra Empire. Not a chance.

The two hurried down the halls, trying to retrace their steps. Again, the feeling of emptiness on the ship washed over them. Sure, they had been taken by two guards, but other than that it felt like no one was there. They didn’t run into any more trouble until they had reached the room again, but two shots of their guns at a few soldiers had allowed them easy access.

Pidge sat down once again at the computer. Luckily, the disc was still left in place and the downloading had been completed. They took the disc out, storing it in a small pocket in their suit that Lance didn’t even know had existed. _“You mean I could’ve had snacks in my suit this whole time?” Pidge sighed. “Lance, please grow up.”_

They quickly made their way through the corridors to where they had left their lions. They stood there in horror as they realized that their lions had completely vanished.

“This…This can’t be happening. Not after what we just went through! We need to get back!” Pidge paced, pulling up their scanner. Lance watched them frantically scanning the area for any signs of the lions. “Wherever they are, they’re out of reach. I can’t find them.”

Lance closed his eyes. Sure, panic was welling up in him just like Pidge, but he had to do _something._ If only his lion were there. If only it could hear him. And then _it did._

With a roar, the blue lion appeared in front of the two paladins. Pidge smiled from ear to ear, relief etched in their face. “If the blue lion is here, then the green lion must be nearby.” Just as they had finished speaking, the green lion materialized next to the blue. Pidge sighed in relief, punching Lance’s arm lightly. The two began to laugh as they boarded the lions, ready to finally head back.

Unfortunately, they didn’t come back with what they went out for in the first place. Keith.

~

“Lance! If you _ever_ do something that stupid again, I swear we won’t be friends anymore. Now get over here,” Hunk waited with open arms, ready to squish Lance in the tightest hug possible. Shiro patted Pidge on the shoulder, thanking them for bringing back the blue paladin. Even Allura broke through her usually regal mask and hugged the two.

“You shouldn’t have left us! We were so worried about you,” Allura pulled herself away from the paladins and brushed her dress. “Now, Pidge, you said that you gathered some information from the ship. May I see?”

Pidge nodded, pulling the disc out of their pocket. The princess took it, then brought it over to a monitor. A flash of purple flooded the screen, along with a bunch of gibberish and characters. Allura furrowed her brows, trying to read.

“It’s been quite a while since I’ve read anything in Galran, so it might take me some time to translate. Meanwhile,” She turned around, poking her finger into Lance’s chest. “ _You_ need to go to your room and rest.”

“Ah, come on! I helped Pidge get this stuff, I wanna know what’s going to happen now!” Lance crossed his arms.

“No, Allura’s right. You’ve been gone for around three earth days. You need to sleep and eat.” Shiro wrapped his arm around the blue paladin. “I promise we’ll wake you up if we find anything. Hunk, go take him down to the kitchens. Pidge, you can join them or help Allura.”

Pidge nodded. “I’ll stay here; I don’t know what I can do but I’d rather help.” To that, Allura smiled.

It seemed like everything was going to be alright.

~

Everything was not going to be alright.

He sat there in the cell, his body too weak to move. He could practically feel his ribs under his skin, all from a slow starvation. Sure, he was fed from time to time, but it was practically nothing.

Keith lifted himself up as much as he could. He moved his hand in front of his eyes, but it was far too dark to see. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to tame the greasy mess, but it was matted and tangled with sweat and blood.

His armor was ripped and torn, and his bayard was long missing. He was absolutely defeated. Why had they kept him here this long?

Keith shielded his eyes from the bright purple light that flooded the room. In the doorway stood one Galra soldier whom he probably could’ve taken if he was fit. However, he was smarter than that; there were bound to be a few more soldiers and guards standing outside, and he didn’t even have a weapon. The soldier stepped forward, nudging him with his gun.

“Get up,” the voice was staticky, almost robotic. “It’s time that you meet your father.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can follow me on tumblr at p03-dameron.tumblr.com or you can follow a group blog between friends thats primarily voltron. relatablepicsofvoltron.tumblr.com its alot of fun and im mod lance there!  
>  have a good day/night!


End file.
